March 2, 2010

a) Jesus characterizes hell as “fire” (vv. 48-49). Instead of just reacting in disgust or distress, we should think of how apt this image is. Fire disintegrates. Fire is painful. Sin,Jesus says, leads to “fire.” In other words, sin leads to disintegration and misery. Many people ask, “do you believe in a hell with literal fire?” The good news is that this language is surely metaphorical. Real fire eventually consumes its fuel and goes out.

But this fire can’t die (v. 48). So we are not talking of physical fire. The bad news is that this “metaphor” is therefore referring to something obviously worse than physical fire. It is talking of spiritual disintegration and misery. Anger, greed, envy, hatred, guilt — all these things begin to disintegrate body, relationships, community, and spirit even in this life. Hell is simply the misery and disintegration that sin brings on now extended out fully and for all eternity. Thus hell is a fact, even if we must say that the “fire” is a metaphor.

b) Secondly, Jesus tells us how we should handle sin in our lives. Sinful behavior (the reference to hand and foot vv. 43-46) and sinful desires (the reference to the eye-v. 47)must be shown no quarter. Sin, Jesus is saying, is like a fire that has broken out in your living room. Let’s say a cushion on couch has ignited. You cannot just sit there and say,“well, the whole house isn’t burning — it’s just a cushion.” If you don’t do something immediately and decisively about the cushion, the whole house will be engulfed. Fire isnever satisfied. It will just take more and more.

It is the same way with sin. The drastic image of amputation (cutting off a foot or hand)means that we must be ruthless about sin. There can be no compromises. It must not be tolerated. It can’t be allowed to smolder, it can’t be confined to a corner. It will engulf you eventually — which is hell. We must confess sin and change and do anything to “put it out” — for the “fire” of sin’s misery could eventually envelopes us and goes on forever. Sin never stays in its place. It always leads to hell, first in this life and then in the next.

(Probably, the terrible image of amputation is also telling us that we must be willing to even deprive ourselves of something dear in order to avoid sin.)
c) v. 48 seems to mean that hell is an everlasting condition. Thus the consequences of sin are infinite. Someone will conclude that Jesus’ use of the doctrine of hell is harsh and unappealing. But if I don’t know about hell, I don’t know all Jesus took for me on the cross. Over and over we are told that the Messiah will take our punishment (Isaiah 53). If I don’t know the magnitude of the penalty and debt, I won’t know what he has done for me. Therefore, ironically, without a belief in and concept of hell, I can’t know the depth of Jesus’ love. Anyone who doesn’t believe in hell usually does so because they say, “I don’t believe a loving God would do that!” In that case, what price did Jesus pay for our sins? Not a lot — just 3 hours of physical pain. But if this is the penalty we owed — eternal agony — then on the cross Jesus would have taken on something infinitely greater. Ironically — if you deny the doctrine of hell to make God more loving, you make him less loving. You have lost the Biblical truth that Jesus experienced hell itself for us voluntarily.
(the above comments are excerpted from Tim Keller’s commentary on Mark)